PESHAWAR: The Afghan government named a career diplomat, Najibullah Alikhil, as its new ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday, the Afghan foreign ministry has said.
Alikhil takes charge at a time when key intra-Afghan talks between the Kabul government and the Afghan Taliban are about to begin. Pakistan is considered key in arranging the dialogue.
“The Afghan government appointed ambassadors to posts in 13 World capitals,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Najibullah Alikhil was nominated as the new Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Islamabad, Pakistan.”
Alikhil, who is fluent in Dari, Pashto, English and Russian, brings with him 28 years of experience working with the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs and since March 2016 was Director General of Security Cooperation and Border Affairs at the ministry. He has served as Afghan envoy in Turkmenistan and Hungary and as a non-resident ambassador to Romania.
Alikhil replaces Atif Mashal who resigned in July this year, citing “personal reasons.”
“Unlike political appointees, Alikhil is a career diplomat with rich diplomatic experience,” said Hikmat Safi, a former adviser to Abdullah Abdullah who leads the High Council for National Reconciliation. “I believe his appointment will bring the two neighbors closer to mend their fraught ties.”
In recent months, Islamabad and Kabul have been involved in a diplomatic row over what both sides claim is harassment of diplomatic staff at their respective high commissions.
Last October, Afghanistan shut down its consulate in Peshawar over the removal of the Afghan national flag by Pakistani authorities from a disputed marketplace, which Kabul said belongs to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan appoints career diplomat Najibullah Alikhil as new ambassador to Pakistan
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Afghanistan appoints career diplomat Najibullah Alikhil as new ambassador to Pakistan
- Unlike political appointees in the past, Alikhil brings with him 28 years of experience working with the Afghan foreign ministry
- Takes charge at a time when key intra-Afghan talks between Kabul government and the Afghan Taliban are about to begin
Pakistan’s annual consumer price rose 5.8 percent year on year in January — statistics bureau
- The reading comes a week after the Pakistani central bank held its policy rate at 10.50 percent
- It said inflation may exceed its 5-7 percent medium-term target range for a few months this year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s consumer price inflation rose 5.8 percent year-on-year in January, official data showed on Monday, underscoring the central bank’s warning that price pressures could temporarily breach its target band as economic activity picks up.
The reading comes a week after the central bank held its policy rate at 10.50 percent, saying inflation could exceed its 5 percent to 7 percent medium-term target range for a few months this year, even as growth gains momentum and imports push the trade deficit wider.
The reading from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics compared with 5.6 percent in December, when prices fell on a monthly basis due to lower perishable food costs.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation increased by 0.4 percent in January.
The State Bank of Pakistan said it viewed the real policy rate as sufficiently positive to stabilize inflation over the medium term, even as it flagged stronger domestic demand and external pressures as upside risks to prices.
Pakistan’s finance ministry had projected inflation would remain within a 5 percent to 6 percent range in January.
An International Monetary Fund staff report has cautioned against premature monetary easing under Pakistan’s $7 billion loan program, urging policymakers to remain data-dependent to anchor inflation expectations and rebuild external buffers.
